Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Tuesday Top 10: Most OVERRATED Horror Movies

If you have feathers, prepare to possibly have them ruffled today. Because I may be mentioning some of your personal faves when I run down my own own subjective list of the top 10 horror flicks that come to mind when I think of movies that get far more credit than I believe they deserve. Some of these I find to be just plain bad, while others are decent movies that have gotten raised to a level far higher than they should eve have been. Your own list might be drastically different, or perhaps you'll agree with cantankerous crabbiness. Whatever the case, strap yourself in, and let's get started, shall we?

10. Army of Darkness (1992)Starting off with a bang, wouldn't you say? Look, I get it. This is a fun movie that offers a lot of laughs. Yet I can't properly put into words the disappointment and embarrassment I felt back in '92 when I dragged a bunch of non-horror geek college buddies to the theater to see a movie I expected to be a balls-to-the-wall horror movie like its two predecessors (or at least a tongue-in-cheek splatter comedy like the second one). What I got was the Hollywood-ized Sam Raimi making his debut. I know this movie is beloved by millions, and I enjoy it. But as an Evil Dead fan, I can never shake that initial disappointment.

9. The Butterfly Effect (2004)Self-absorbed 20-somethings on parade, led by their patron saint, Ashton Kutcher-Moore. Blech. And yet this pretentious sci-fi thriller has somehow been acclaimed by a certain segment of moviegoers, who are presumably drawn in by the notion of special-effects-enhanced navel-gazing. When it comes to time travelers, I'll take Rod Taylor or Michael J. Fox any day of the week over the guy from Dude, Where's My Car.

8. War of the Worlds (2005)When people try to argue that this flick should be right up there with the likes of The Fly, The Blob or The Thing amongst superior remakes of 1950s genre classics, it makes me want to infect them with whatever bacteria killed off the Martian invaders. Steven "Father Issues" Spielberg takes H.G. Wells' grand epic about the struggle for humanity's survival and turns it into Tom Cruise's effort to be a better daddy to Dakota Fanning. Clearly, this is a director who does a much better job handling friendly aliens than dangerous ones.

7. Donnie Darko (2001)Don't get me wrong, this is a good movie--part Douglas Adams, part Terry Gilliam, part Harvey, I can't deny it's inventiveness. But one of IMDb's top 250 (currently 124 in fact)? Not by a long shot. This is an amusing picture by a writer/ director who read Stephen Hawking and thought he understood it. Later works that sprung from the mind of Richard Kelly include the equally overrated and far worse Southland Tales, and the just plain abominable The Box. The kind of movie people like to say they love because it makes them sound really smart.

6. The Amityville Horror (1979)As bad as the remake was, I never really came down on it all that hard, because I found the original to be just as bad, if not worse. In no way, shape, or form should this movie be mentioned in the same breath as movies like The Exorcist, The Omen, The Changeling, etc., yet I'll often see just that. Folks, I know sometimes it's hard to believe, but just because a horror film was made in the '70s, that doesn't instantly make it a classic. Even if it does have Superman's girlfriend and Barbra Streisand's husband.

5. Friday the 13th (1980)My lack of patience for all things Jason is well-documented. And yet, I do enjoy this very Jason-less original. But even the screenwriter himself admitted to me it was basically a knock-off of Halloween designed to turn a quick buck, and not much more. It does a fine job of keeping the viewer in suspense, and Betsy Palmer is a joy in her brief time on screen, but its nowhere near the important classic many hail it as. And I'm not just saying that because of the inexcusable overabundance of denim cut-offs.

4. Hellraiser (1987)I'm afraid this movie just plain old doesn't hold up well. I enjoyed it a great deal at the time, and I like the sequel even more, but recent re-viewings have only showed me that not all great horror flicks remain so over time. I can still watch many other horror faves from the '80s and not get the sense that they are dated and ineffectual, yet not this one. What once seemed like an edgy, psychological masterpiece now feels like a small-budget cheesefest that's just trying too hard. Doug Bradley as Pinhead, and the Cenobites in general, are still awesome. But nothing else remotely is.

3. Ringu (1998)I don't care if it makes me sound like a horror Philistine--I will always maintain that I greatly prefer the 2002 American remake to this highly overrated affair. The remake is better made, better acted, and just plain scarier. This J-horror groundbreaker was, for me, a big letdown--I think I actually audibly uttered the words, "That was it?" as the credits were rolling. I'm all for understated supernatural horror--hell, the original Haunting is probably the best ghost movie ever made. But there just wasn't enough payoff here to impress me.

2. The Sixth Sense (1999)Again, an effective movie, and a fine debut from M. Night Shyamalan--which he has yet to live up to, of course. But the first supernatural horror film to be nominated for Best Picture? An injustice of cosmic proportions. This is a feature-length Twilight Zone episode with fancy production values. And that's coming from someone who was dense enough to not see the final twist coming.

1. The Blair Witch Project (1999)I can distinctly remember the general disappointment of the moviegoing public when this movie came out; the sense of having been duped by a clever, first-of-its-kind online marketing campaign. I recall the groans of disgust as the closing credits rolled in the theater. Yet fast-forward 10 years later, and everyone inexplicably hails this thing as one of the all-time greatest, scariest, horror movies of all time. I suspect it may be a generational thing, perhaps. I was 24 when this movie came out, and was already a died-in-the-wool horror freak for many years. I think a large portion of this movie's fan base may be made up of those who were very young when it came out, and so relate it in their minds with primal, childhood fears. Kind of like me with Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, a nearly forgotten 1970s TV movie that remains one of the scariest things I've ever seen. I'm not sure. What I do know, is that aside from an admittedly effective finale, I found this movie to be an over-hyped mess in 1999, and I still do today.

66 comments:

I agree completely with Army of Darkness, my least favorite of the three for sure..

Donnie Darko isn't as much a horror movie as it is a thriller but it's one of those weird movies that doesn't fit all the way in any genre. I myself love it but I don't like Kelly's other stuff that much..

I've defended Butterfly Effect before not because it's good, but simply because it seems to get such strong hatred. I like the concept and appreciate it not wimping out where it could have, but it's just not made well enough to be more than a 2.5 star film.

I will argue with Blair Witch's presence on this list, mostly because I feel the same way with Paranormal Activity: you either buy them or you don't. If you're not taken with the hook, you almost should give up by the second reel. Pure black and white opinion on those kinds of films.

Can I toss in Drag Me to Hell in Army of Darkness's place? THAT'll get some heat.

Chuck, I do enjoy AOD, and I get why it's such a cult classic. I just come at it as an Evil Dead lover who was expecting something a lot better after that excellent cliffhanger ending of Evil Dead 2. Emily, what you say is true, since I am one of those who enjoyed PA quite a bit, and felt it got right what BWP was trying to do. Totally subjective. And I'll forgive the DMTH comment, but only this once!

"I will argue with Blair Witch's presence on this list, mostly because I feel the same way with Paranormal Activity: you either buy them or you don't. If you're not taken with the hook, you almost should give up by the second reel. Pure black and white opinion on those kinds of films."

I agree with Emily's thoughts on Blair Witch...it's one of the most divisive horror films ever made, and it has been since Day 1. There aren't many people who see it and give it a "meh"- it's very much a love it or hate it film.

I'm with you on picks 10, 9, 8, 6, and 4. I think Donnie Darko and The Sixth Sense are in the wrong category (I guess I've never thought of them as true horror). I have a soft spot for Betsy Palmer in #5, though. I, too, enjoy the American remake over the original Ringu. But that J-horror groundbreaker was good till I saw the it. I second Emily thoughts with regards to #1. Fun post, B-Sol.

I prefer the Japanese Ringu greatly over the American. Even thoughI saw the American first I just found the Japanese to be more chilling more "realistic" and all in all more enjoyable. Plus I can't stand the look of the American Samara, I think it's waaay to much CGI to make it scary. As far as the others go I agree with most of them, although I like all of them except Butterfly Effect. Like others have said though, all lot of these arenät horror flicks, and that includes AOD.

Kudos on "Friday the 13th" and "War of the Worlds." I would go so far as to call "Worlds" Speilberg's worst film. Yep, I would rather watch "Hook" or "Always" again. Okay, maybe it's a close tie with "Hook."

Still, I have to disagree with you on "Blair Witch Project." I was 23 when it came out and had been and still am a horror movie fan for life. And I loved every last second of it. But that's just my opinion.

Oh man, I effing HATE Donnie Darko. I thought I was pretty much alone on that one, but I'm glad to know I'm in good company. Funny thing is, I had a discussion (read: argument) about this movie just yesterday. Good on ya for calling it out.

Yay! I hate Friday the 13th and much prefer The Ring to Ringu as well---as I talked about in my painfully indecisive but ultimately pro-Ring post! Friday the 13th is the worst offender in my opinion. I'm pretty sure Jason is the most boring killer in the world.

Agree for most of these! I never knew we had so much in common in terms of our hatred! Woohoo!

I think that your top ten hit the nail on the head, especially considering how the movies have stood the test of time.

However, I will say that when I saw Amityville and Friday the 13th in theatre in my youth (yes, my parents started me early in the horror genre) that those two along with Phantasm left a lasting impression on me and remain very enjoyable today (although, they definitely are not as good as they could be).

I'm so with you on Ringu!!! On the other hand, F13 is a thing of beauty and you, the lover of Paranormal Activity, do not deserve to tie the Blair Witch's shoes!!! Fun post B-sol, Here's hoping fellow bloggers follow suite!-Unk

Lots of love for Blair Witch. Guess it's one of those you either love or hate. Bram Stoker's Dracula is a favorite of mine, but I can see how it's not everyone's cup of tea. Believe it or not, I was tempted to include the Lugosi version on here, as I would not equate it with the Karloff Frankenstein, for example. But I love the Lugosi Dracula way too much to do that. James, I really should've squeezed Hatchet in here--I cant stand that movie! DM, it's not so much that I hate Donnie Darko, just that it's intense cult following baffles me. And Andre, glad we share so much hatred--I think I mutual anti-Jason stance has been well established.

I agree with your list, brother. I, for one, think The Blair Witch Project was an overly-hyped turd. The worst thing about it was that a friend of mine is a brother-in-law to that guy Mike in real life and I met him after seeing the movie... so, essentially, it kill any impact that movie could of had.

Interesting list. I don't understand some of your choices because they are pretty much certified classics... but I totally respect your opinion. However what really surprises me the most about your list is the inclusion of The Butterfly Effect and War of the Worlds. I had no idea that any self respecting horror fans in the world actually held these films in high regard. Go figure!

Do the first four flicks on this list really qualify as horror? Even Army of Darkness can be deemed astraight comedy film and a tribute to the 3 Stooges and Ray Harryhausen.

The Ring is worlds better than Ringu. No argument there.

I've never met anyone that's said War of the worlds is anygood. Do people really defend that movie?

As mediocre as Amityville is, it does feaure a naked Margot Kidder at her near peak. Gotta take that one off the list.

I'd probably rank Bela Legosi's Dracula as the most overrated horror flick of all time. Recently caught a triple feature of that with Frankenstein and the Wolfman with Chris, and Dracula, outside of the gorgeous sets and Frye's performance as Renfield was just campy and awful.

BWP still remains one of the scariest movies I've ever seen, but I was lucky enough to catch it opening nigh tin limited release before all the backlash.

As usual, your lists are superlative. I agree with all with the following caveats: the remake of War of the Worlds is not only overrated, it is terrible; and I think that, at least for me, The Blair Witch Project, on a single viewing, is a very, very effective movie. Perhaps it didn't hold up, but it scared the pants off of me back when, and I am a sorta outdoorsy guy. But WotW should be #1 on this list with a bullet. It was terrible. Wakling in I thought: "Spielberg doesn't make bad flicks, and I typically enjoy Cruise's flicks, so this should be a walk." Spielberg has pretty much only made bad flicks since, and Tom Cruise has left the couch.

Didn't even think War of the Worlds was rated enough to be overrated. AoD i agree with, alot of my friend fins it superior to the first two. Each of the Evil Dead films got more comedic, but atleast Evil Dead 2 kept the horror.

Id have to disagree on several of the picks for me personally, since I have always been a firm defender of the original AMITYVILLE, but I completely agree on RINGU. Though it set the bar for the J-Horror entries to come, the remake was a near perfect film with some of the richest atmosphere in recent horror. Great list B!

Brian, I agree with everything on this list except for "The Blair Witch Project." But you already know my thoughts on that! And like you said, it's very much a love it or hate it movie. And I think John and I ran into you in the theater on the opening night of "Army of Darkness" if I recall correctly! Definitely a letdown after seeing the first 2 films. Even the second one had a bit of campy humor to it, but it was pulled off well, in that it was still a horror movie. AOD was a comedy straight up.

I think a lot of this is ( as you said in your closing comments) generational. I want to preface my comments by saying "it has a special place in my heart" is my only defence here!

Army of Darkness: I was a kid, I saw it BEFORE I saw Evil Dead, it was my first taste of Bruce and to this day I love this film. Not as funny as Shawn of the Dead, or Zombie land but.... "it has a special place in my heart"

Amityville Horror, was one of those first classic 70's films I saw ( with Omen and Exorcist) it scared the shit out of me, It came out on my birthday, and Ryan Reynolds was good in the remake. Also because he is Canadian...."it has a special place in my heart"

Friday the 13th, you had to pick sides. Freddy, Jason or Michael. Jason gave me camp counsellors and there BREASTS!!!! I was 10, and saw Breasts! Breasts B, BREASTS!..."it has a special place in my heart"

Hellraiser, That scene where the dad is moving the mattress down the stairs and gets his hand caught on the nail is forever burned into my head. Not to mention his wife was simultaneously getting nailed by a skinless Corpse, CLASSIC...!..."it has a special place in my heart"

Ringu, I wholeheartedly AGREE the remake was better!

Blair Witch, I just watched this for the 100th time on Monday. This movie is greatness packed in box made of awesome! This was the first film for me of it's kind. It felt soooo real. The tension never stopped escalating from the get go and I truly felt horrified for those kids. The ending with mike facing the wall and heather screaming his name! that shrill, MIKE! MIKE!! MIKE!!!

fin.

EPIC B!

EPIC!

B, your still my homeboy but I will fight you on this until deaths icy hand grips me and takes me to my eternal slumber.

Anthony--I understand many of these are recognized classics. That's partly my point--they're treated with more respect than I think they deserve. And believe it or not, I have heard people sing the praises of BE and WOTW...

Pidde--This is a totally subjective exercise. For example, the three movies you mentioned, DOTD '78, LTROI and The Shining, are three of my ALL-TIME fave horror films, and I would NEVER call them overrated.

Ms. Merlot--I guess you think I went too far this time? lol

Jay--I think it was From Hell where I ran into you guys. BUT I do think you guys came along with us to see AOD. Rich and Domenica were there too...

I must have been 13 when I saw the Blair Witch Project, and I really didn't care for it. Of course, at 13 I'd been a video rental store addict for a couple years (ah, the days of the 5/5/5 deal, I miss it so) and had/have particularly old taste. Not sure where I got it- my parents hated when I dared try to make them sit through a movie that happened to be in black & white.

B-Sol, totally agree with you about Your later comments about Dawn, Let The right One In, and The Shining are pure brilliance. And as much as I hate to admit Army of Darkness is, by far, the weakest of the Evil Dead series. (But I still love that movie)

I understand why you don't like Blair Witch but I thought it was a very effective movie. Granted it started shaky cam but for a movie on the cheap, not bad.

As for friday the 13th, I have great memories of that, seeing breasts in 3rd grade, awesome!!!! VOH is great continue to stir up the controversy

Thanks for the praise, Evil!Chris, I've found there is quite a vocal minority of people who think Kubrick' Shining is a disaster. I personally could not disagree more, but this opinion is more prevalent than you would imagine.

While I do disagree with a couple of your choices (Blair Witch and Hellraiser, namely), I applaud you for calling out Ammityville Horror for the mess that it is. There is NOTHING even remotely scary about this movie and the fact that it gets lumped in with other classics from the time period is a shame.

For some reason, I can get past Hellraiser's 80's vibe and appreciate it. It's got a gritty atmosphere that movies like Friday the 13th don't. Beyond that, the special effects still hold up, in my opinion. Fuck CGI - give me latex and corn syrup any day.

I definitely agree about War of the Worlds. I absolutely hated that movie when I saw it.

And I've realized that I like Butterfly Effect less and less each time I see it.

Being a big Jason fan, the Friday the 13th franchise is my favorite of the Big Three. But, I see where you're coming from with the original F13 being wrongly hailed as a classic.

I do feel a little insulted by the comment about having to be dense to not see the twist in Sixth Sense coming (even though I realize you're admitting to it yourself). It's one of my favorite twists ever, and I didn't see it coming.

As for the talk of Let the Right One In and The Shining being overrated, I must admit I don't like those movies as much as most people do. But they are undeniably well made films and certainly aren't disasters by a longshot. They aren't really my cup of tea, but I see why people love them.

I would agree more about the comment about Drag Me To Hell being overrated, though. I enjoyed it, but everyone seemed to think it was some instant classic. I thought it was nothing particularly special. And it seemed like the movie was trying to set up the envelope business to be a surprise or twist, but it could be seen from a mile away.

I'd argue in defense of The Sixth Sense, but I can see how the hype of that film really set people up for a disappointment. Blair Witch as #1 is spot on, even though I did like that movie when it came out--didn't go apeshit for it, but I liked it.

Amen on Drag Me to Hell Davey! It's the definition of an okay movie. How it landed on so many 'best horror films of the decade' lists is a question that baffles my senses and makes me dislike it in hype hindsight.

Ummm, Blair Witch was hailed as a masterpiece AND THEN it got disrributed to theaters where cultural illiterates could groan at it because it had no million dollar special effects and didn't congratulate them for being stupid. And it is still hailed as a masterpiece by people who admire innovative low budget movie making. Army of Darkness is a good film, you say so yourself. Donnie Darko, same thing. neither of them are horror films.

I completely agree with you about Ring (only called "Ringu" due to 1. Japanese pronounciation of English words and 2. the retardation of American translators). The remake was much better. The book, however, tops both, and the mangas are scattered somewhere in between.

Read the book if you get the chance. Ryuji's character is highly memorable in comparison to the nancy pseudo-psychic they sadly present to us in the movie.

I agree with all except the top two; Sixth Sense is one of those rare movies that's fun to watch multiple times; the acting and self-confident direction/script are compelling. Best Picture nomination? A quibble. Hurt Locker bored me (and how does that happen in a film where stuff blows up all the time?_- Oscars are just a measure of Hollywood politics, not much more. Blair Witch I don't re-watch (annoying leads) but I appreciate what it accomplishes. It is a truly great indie. To replace them? Trick R Treat (OK but not really as good as any given Tales From the Crypt ep, and I dislike TFTC) and Drag Me to Hell (Help! A haunted hankie!).

Ok, this list pissed me off. This dude just took cult favourites and pissed all over them to sound like he knows something about movies that us mortals just can't comprehend. And for the record, calling someone else pretentious doesn't make you sound any less so.

Well, maybe the other side of that coin is that B-Sol sounds like he knows something about movies because he actually does know something about movies. I don't think any of us are putting ourselves over as experts, but we each at least come with informed opinions--and not always marching in lockstep with the masses.

I mean, heck, I watched Donnie Darko for the first time a month or two ago and I think he's spot on with criticizing the film and the director. Highly overrated.

Well, here's the thing. The very nature of a list like this means it's gonna make some people angry. What I'm doing is selecting movies that specifically have a strong fan following, which I personally feel is not entirely warranted. So of course, that's a bit troubling to those who love the films in question. Jordan, what horror films would you consider to be among the most overrated?

i don't understand ANYONE praising War of the worlds... besides the special effects, everything was excruciating. The characters had no personality and were pretty much caricatures. i wanted the son to fucking die. I fucking hated that little asshole, brat. I did not buy the ending one little bit. I actually like Scary movie 4 better than that...

I cannot even express how frightened I was by The Blair Witch Project. If anything I feel people are overly -abusive- towards it, rather than overly praising.

Not enjoying it because one was "mislead into thinking it was real" is just nonsense; one must accept any fiction's unreality to a degree in order to appreciate it. I'm old enough to have seen it during the "is it or isn't it" apparent confusion, but upon watching it today knowing the in-hindsight-obvious facts doesn't diminish it at all. I still find its realism to be amazingly convincing.

To me, The Blair Witch Project is the scariest film ever made. I hate to attack Paranormal Activity (because I love it as well and hating on it is almost as popular as hating TBWP; I love the entire genre.), but it doesn't even come CLOSE in terms of sheer terror.

im totally with you on most of them. the american remake of ringu is definitely heaps better, and the blair witch project sucked!! i love friday 13th, its probably the only one on there that i didnt think heyyy dont pay that out but admittedly i am a jason die hard and i do find it more amusing than horror. but s a good list :)

Which horror film *should* be remade?

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I've been fascinated with horror ever since my parents let me watch The Exorcist at 8 years old (what were they thinking??) and I ran up to my bed screaming when Linda Blair's eyes rolled into the back of her head.Although it often gets a bad rap from "mainstream" critics and audiences alike, horror has often been the most creative and vibrant movie genre of all, from Nosferatu to Saw. Some of the finest motion pictures ever made are part of the horror genre, including Frankenstein, Psycho, The Shining and my personal all-time favorite, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead.This blog is the culmination of my 25-year love affair with all things blood and guts--so check back here often for news and opinion on the world of horror. And remember...